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[ST] Presidents Day Ride Report



This weekend was filled with a few 2 to 4 hour getaways. Whenever the rain 
would stop for a few hours, I took off in a direction that would get me 
quickly to my favorite roads.  I ran the quiet California Delta river roads 
Sunday morning, because the Foothills were getting hammered by rain and 
snow.  Stayed dry until the last 3 miles!  I got up to Auburn and the 
American River Canyon in the afternoon for quick blast but found the roads 
sandy and wet from all that weather earlier in the day.

The best ride was saved for today.  I rode over to my buddy's house about 20 
minutes away.  The sky was a mix of sun and dark ominous clouds.  After 
checking the direction of the coming storm, we decided to take a 45 mile run 
north to the Sutter Buttes, the world's shortest mountain range.  It's just 
beautiful this time of year, with all the green hills and sharp mountain 
peaks. Our destination was a road that goes east to west through the middle 
of the Buttes.

We headed west to intersect with one of the many levee roads that keep the 
surrounding farm land from flooding.  Levees are fun to ride because you're 
up high on the road looking down on the river and fields. But these roads 
are notorious for punishing riders and drivers who make the mistake of 
looking around too much.  All too often I find accidents along this 
stretch...but not this time.

Just before we turned north, I spotted what looked like a tornado off to the 
south.  These clouds were mean looking and seemed to be coming right at us. 
So we turned and wicked it up to 75-80 mph.  Soon we entered sun and our 
backs began to warm.  Feeling more relaxed, I slowed down a bit to take in a 
bit of the scenery, checking the mirror for that storm moving our way. 
Yikes!  Nothing but black back there.   Back up to illegal speeds.

We entered the middle Buttes road through Sutter, a small rice growing 
township in the center of the Sacramento Valley. The Buttes just jut up out 
of the rice fields, quite bizarre really.  We snaked through the center at 
legal limits, to enjoy the short time we would spend there.  The ST seemed 
to know every inch of the road, yet it had been a year since our last visit.

Looping back to Sutter, my buddy gassed up his Vulcan 800.  Crummy bike, 
only a 90 mile tank!  Made me appreciate my ST's range.  We watched 
lightening strike off to the south and that meant we had to get...and find 
shelter.  I remembered a place called the Silver Dollar Saloon in 
Marysville. The Norcal Triumph group meets there sometimes at the end of 
rides.  10 miles later, we stopped and pulled up a bar stool.  Bartender 
says to us: "What you doin' riding around in tornadoes?"  Sure enough, the 
TV was blaring warnings of several touchdowns on rooftops.  So we killed the 
next 2 hours catching up on each others lives.  What a great day and what a 
great bike to be riding....

George Cope
Roseville, CA
'99 Sprint ST Midnight
23,000 miles as of today




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End of st-digest V2004 #821
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